Still buzzed, no bull: Our favorite Young STAR memories

On our 20th anniversary, we asked the Young STAR family — and extended family — to chime in on their favorite shoots, collabs and what they love most about the section that helped jumpstart their careers and many others.

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Twenty years ago, a national broadsheet orchestrated the unimaginable. With a little prodding and imagination from Lifestyle editor Millet Mananquil, a section catering to the youth was concocted, coming out every Friday in the pages of The Philippine STAR. “I thought that if STAR came out with a section for the young, they would start reading the papers,” shares Tita Millet (“16 Years of Young Star,” April 13, 2012), “where young people would write about their thoughts — rather than old people writing about young people.” It was a formula that would continue on as columnists would contribute and then move on to different careers (aka adulthood).”

On our 20th anniversary, we asked the Young STAR family — and extended family — to chime in on their favorite shoots, collabs and what they love most about the section that helped jumpstart their careers and many others. Most have gone on to pursue other careers. (Heck, who would’ve thought I’d end up in public service?) Safe to say, as the call of adulthood looms in the horizon, Young STAR is here to stay.

“My most memorable YS editorial was with Sam, Maan, and Bruce back in March 2013. It was a last day of school story with ukay clothes. It started the ball rolling for me.” — Ralph Mendoza, former YS assistant editor and photographer

“There are a couple that are memorable. But creating an alternative music awards with Quark Henares and Luis Katigbak in three different newspapers was the most memorable. We weren’t happy with any of the award-giving bodies for music so we decided to make our own and publish our own. We all wrote for different papers but agreed we would publish in the same week when our columns appeared and with our names printed on all. It was called the QLE Awards because we couldn’t be bothered to think of anything better.” — Erwin Romulo, YS editor at large

“The first was when we photographed around 40 people in a day for the ‘Cliques/Barkadas’ story a few years back. That was an intense day but super fun-filled with friends and some beautiful light. Second was when Paolo Lorenzana and I photographed 140 people for a story about Twitter. It was one of my first assignments ever. We shot at two events and one of them was at Preview’s McQueen-themed ball. Oh man, those two days were so much fun but also hella tiring!” — Gabby Cantero, photographer

“The Young STAR and Bench collaboration is one of my favorite features to date. Bench’s basic white tee was styled and worn different ways by 11 different individuals. It was really interesting to see how each one used their aesthetic and style to bring their unique personalities.” — Sari Campos, makeup artist

“I’ve always loved working on the Fresh Produce feature. The first one I worked on was actually shot at the grocery, with Gabby Cantero! Pushing young, bright, talented kids has always been part of the YS ethos, and it makes me proud that many of those we featured are doing amazing things now.” — Karen Bolilia, former YS assistant editor and stylist

“Any political story I got to do was a treat in itself but I have a soft spot for the UAAP recap I did with Jiggy Cruz and Erwin Romulo.” — Jonty Cruz, YS editor at large

“The best thing about working in Young STAR is finding young creatives to collaborate with. There’s so much great talent out there and it’s been a pleasure to be able to give them a platform.” — Raymond Ang, YS editor at large

“Being young (at that time) and feeling like your voice was relevant and there was a space for it to be heard. It’s important for the youth to be encouraged, and YS always gave new talent a stage, and I loved that.” — Kara Ortiga, YS columnist

“My most memorable YS feature was the ‘Comeback Kid’ article from last year. It was the only article I’ve had that allowed me to be the awkward, vulnerable, and unfiltered person that I am. Not to mention, every time I work with YS, I get to spend time with the people who matter a lot to me — my friends.” — Pauline Prieto, model

“That bright-eyed desire to enrich the lives of basic bitches. To allow them to discover a world beyond artistas and the insta-famous.” — Paolo Lorenzana, former YS editor

“My most memorable collaboration for YS was shooting its 17th birthday issue, with Sam Humphries on the cover. A few of the people in that issue were friends of mine, and a few more became friends after!”— Joseph Pascual, photographer

“Fresh Produce 2010. It was our first published gig as YourEvilTwin photographers. First ever!” — An Estrada, photographer and designer

“I think my favorite was this shoot Ralph and I did with Eyedress and his girlfriend at the time, Maya. I felt like it captured a very specific point in time and it felt very YS. Very loose and real.” — Sam Potenciano, YS columnist and stylist

“I love that YS is a multifaceted platform for creatives in the Philippines. It’s an outlet that goes above and beyond journalism by supporting the abundance of talent in the country, and of course, by keeping print alive!” — Kristine Caguiat, visual artist

“The short-lived redesign of the masthead. It’s my first time to work for YS and it’s with Toff and Raymond!” — Patrick Diokno, photographer

“What’s great about Young STAR is that it’s run by young and fresh people — only the young can really speak the language. Other than that, YS represents a style that’s very relatable to its audience, and approaches projects as collaborations; allowing artists that you work with the freedom to express their interpretations.” — Artu Nepomuceno, photographer

“My most memorable YS feature is probably my first. It’s a feature about me and Soleil and our two-man show ‘Hello Sailor’ written by Nante (Santamaria). And my favorite collab is when I illustrated for an article about HBO’s Looking, which was written by Toff. YS always provides a safe space not just for the youth but also for the LGBT community in which we can talk about things that actually matter and without being intimidating or trying too hard to be cool. YS people are naturally cool, so… haha.” — Tokwa Peñaflorida, visual artist

“My most memorable YS collab was with Kara Ortiga on Bela Padilla’s controversial FHM cover because it showed the diversity of YS, taking on an issue that resonated across a lot of fields — art, fashion, post-colonialism, politics of women’s bodies and color…” — Samantha King, former YS columnist

“I did Fresh Produce with Patrick Diokno and Maronne Cruz. Felt weird shooting people I looked up to. So much respect!” — Sonny Thakur, photographer

“My favorite feature was getting to interview Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner of The National. My then-editor Raymond called me up on the day of their show as I was on the way to line up extra early and asked if I’d be game to do a roundtable interview with them. It was a little scary because I used to get really anxious very quickly, but I was so happy after the fact because I’ve loved them for a long time and it was proof that, ‘Hey, I can do this!’ I also got to meet cool writers I still talk to at the roundtable!” — Carina Santos, YS columnist